Did you know?
There’s a glitch in the etymology of glitch—it may come from the Yiddish glitsh, meaning “slippery place,” but that’s not certain. Print use of glitch referring to a brief unexpected surge of electrical current dates to the mid-20th century. Astronaut John Glenn, in his 1962 book Into Orbit, felt the need to explain the term to his readers: “Literally, a glitch is a spike or change in voltage in an electrical circuit which takes place when the circuit suddenly has a new load put on it.” Today, the word can be used of any minor malfunction or snag. If you’re a gamer you might even take advantage of a glitch that causes something unexpected, and sometimes beneficial, to happen in the game.
Examples of glitch in a Sentence
Dan Zaksheske Outkick, FOXNews.com, 31 May 2026
But it's been seven years since Lightsail 2's launch, and NASA's latest test flight of an advanced solar sail design suffered deployment glitches and ended up tumbling in space.
—Kiona N. Smith, Space.com, 31 May 2026
Legal glitches and hitches will eventually be found when AI laws are passed without suitable scrutiny and analysis.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 30 May 2026
The issues began Thursday, with technical glitches that caused screens to freeze or abruptly kick students out of the system.
—Rebecca Noel, Charlotte Observer, 29 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for glitch
Cite this Entry
“Glitch.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/glitch. Accessed 3 Jun. 2026.
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glitch
noun
